Forget Cadbury I'll have Faberge instead
by emeraldeyedirishdaughter
Summary: A visit to a Ukrainian Easter Festival leads to an adventure back in time to Imperial Russia 1885 and a meeting with Karl Faberge. Completed just in time for Easter
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: This story was written for the third challenge of the storm and wolf ficathon over at LJ. My picture prompt was Ukrainian Easter Eggs. This is chapter one in a total of three. Many thanks to naughtybunny23 over at LJ and Teaspoon for the beta.**

**Disclaimer: Dr Who and it's characters are owned by the BBC and sadly not by me.**

The Ukrainian marketplace was awash with every hue of the rainbow. The riotous colours of the ribbons, banners and pennants were mirrored in the radiant costumes worn by the locals as they celebrated the holy feast of Easter.

Stalls were overloaded with foodstuffs of every kind, some familiar to the eye, others less so. Everywhere the sounds of merriment were deafening yet the atmosphere so jovial one could take no offence at the noise.

Rose and the Doctor had been wandering around the bazaar all day and well into the evening, taking in the wonderful sites and cultural differences. As they held hands Rose was thankful for this unusual downtime. It was not often they managed to have a day off from running for their lives. Sometimes she wished the moments like this would last forever. Of course it could not.

"Time to head back to the TARDIS, Rose," suggested the Doctor beside her. "Looks like everything is winding down here for tonight."

"Sure, Doctor," she replied as she let him lead her back to the sentient time ship that had become her home. "This was all really different. The Ukrainians certainly know how to celebrate Easter."

"Yeah they certainly do. Did you enjoy yourself Rose?" he questioned.

"Oh, it was lovely. Thank you for bringing me." Her voice betrayed a hint of sadness.

He came over and placed his hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture. "What's up, Rose?" he asked worriedly.

She sighed. "It's nothing really. I guess it's just that today has been so perfect. No running for our lives or scary monsters to deal with. Today was just you and me, Doctor, enjoying ourselves and having a marvellous time."

At her previous statement, the Doctor looked a little upset. "You're not saying that you're bored with the adventure, are you, Rose?"

She looked horrified at his question. "No, oh no, not at all. It's just that having a day off is such a rare treat for us that sometimes I don't want it to end." She smiled, trying to reassure him that she was telling the God's honest truth.

A brief look of relief crossed the Doctor's face before he spoke again. "I know what you mean," he replied as he pulled her into a longer than usual hug. As he released her, he drew from his pocket a small colourful item. He hoped it would cheer her up.

"Speaking of treats," he said gleefully, "I got this from the marketplace for you today." Holding out his hand he gently placed a brightly coloured oval object into her hands.

"Oh," she breathed in delight. "It's a Ukrainian Easter Egg."

"Yep, otherwise know as a pysanka, well that's the common name but there are other ones for them depending on how they are made and decorated. The one you're holding has been designed using bee's wax. Let me see, there is Krashanky, Dryapanky, Lystovky …"

"Doctor!"

He raised his head to meet Rose's pained countenance. "Too much info?" he stated ruefully.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "A little," she confirmed, "but thank you so much for my beautiful egg." She cocked her head and looked at it quizzically.

"What are you thinking?"

"Nothing really important … just this egg reminds me of a programme I saw on telly the other day about those Russian eggs." She closed her eyes, trying to think. "Oh, what was their name … um … Fab something or other … no wait … don't tell me –"she begged, seeing the knowing look on the Doctor's face. " – Fabergay, no, that's not it. Faberday, ah now I remember, it's Faberge. That's it, they remind me of Faberge eggs."

"Ah yes," agreed the Doctor. "Karl Gustavovich Faberge, better known as Peter Karl Faberge. Now there was a man who had talent and some pretty important clientele, too. The House of Faberge turned out thousands of jeweled eggs dating back to around 1885 right through to 1917. For the most part they were pretty trinkets that people gave at Easter –"

"But, the ones on the telly," broke in Rose, "they were larger ones with secret surprises inside."

"Yeah, that's right," replied the Doctor. "Those would have been the Imperial Eggs commissioned by the Russian Tsars. Faberge created over fifty eggs for the Russian royal house. He was also credited with commissioning at least fifteen pieces for other important people as well." He smiled at Rose before continuing, "To the Tsars and their families they were tokens of love, a generous gift to be given at Easter but to people like Joseph Stalin they were just maddening reminders of Imperial excess."

"They sound incredible," said Rose, clearly enjoying this latest history lesson. "What happened to them all, Doctor?"

"Well, there were around sixty-five of the larger eggs but just over fifty are known to still exist. Many of the Russian eggs were sold by Stalin in 1927 and ended up in private collections. I believe that the Kremlin Armoury Museum is home to ten of the Imperial Eggs."

"Oh," breathed Rose in excitement. "Can we go see them?"

The Doctor grinned at her. He had anticipated her question. "Can do better than that, Rose. Time machine remember? We can go back to 1885 and meet Faberge. How would you like to go and see the first Imperial Egg, created by the man himself?"

He decided that Rose's bone crushing hug was a definite yes.

"Right then, Russia, 1885 it is," he said in a tone that betrayed his own excitement at the prospect of a new adventure. "Off we go to meet the man who will soon be appointed Goldsmith to the Imperial Crown by Tsar Alexander III and Empress Maria Fedorovna."

He piloted the TARDIS into the Vortex before turning back to Rose with a very serious look on his face. Rose knew that look. It meant that he was thinking hard about their mode of disguise, planning out the best way to approach their adventure without too much going wrong.

"Doctor?"

At her interruption he glanced up and grinned. "Just thinking how we can get in to see Faberge," he declared. "Best way might be for me to introduce myself as a court advisor to the Tsar. The psychic paper can prove my credentials … but-" he looked at Rose quizzically. "I'm not sure what to do with you."

"That's easy," replied Rose, her face bearing a cheeky look. "I come as your wife. No, think about it," she said after seeing the stunned expression on his face. "Imagine it from a woman's point of view. You've told me about this beautiful gift our Tsar is having created for his wife. Naturally I think, oh, how romantic that is, so of course I insist upon coming with you to see this token of affection and given half a chance, try to persuade you to commission a little something for me. So … what do you think?"

The Doctor frowned for a moment, mulling over Rose's suggested solution. It was a little domestic but it was also a sound disguise and well, she really was quite fantastic at this problem-solving stuff.

"It's a good idea, Rose but, and I know this maybe hard for you, as my wife you're going to have to do what you're told. No wandering off, okay?" He laughed before adding, "I don't want to have to put to the test the ''til death us do part' clause of our fake marriage."

She poked out her tongue at him. "Yeah, well just don't get too bossy or I'll divorce you."

"Go to the wardrobe, you minx," he gently commanded. "We'll be landing soon. The TARDIS will lay out something suitable for you to wear befitting your status as a lady of the Russian Imperial Court."

Rose did not need to be told twice. Getting to dress up in extravagant and wonderful clothing simply added to her delight in travelling with the Doctor. It was always exciting to try on something new. Being in the correct garb heightened her experiences and made her feel like she fit in with the time period or planet they were exploring. Entering her bedroom, she made her way to the wardrobe. She gave a cry of delight as she saw the beautiful outfit the TARDIS had decided she should wear.

It was a fancy piece made of peacock blue silk with puffed sleeves. There was a pale undershirt with ruffled neckline and the bodice of the dress was covered in silver velvet, woven through with metallic blue thread. The skirt had neither crinoline nor bustle but contained paneled insets of the same coloured velvet as well as tiny vertical rows of silver and blue bows that fell to the ruffled hem of the dress.

Rose marveled at how well the gown fit her. When she had finished dressing she proceeded to fix her hair and makeup, using only a minor amount of the latter. Having finished, she retraced her steps back to the console room praying that she would not let the Doctor down as she played her role in this adventure.

Upon seeing him she asked nervously "So do I scrub up well, Doctor?"

The Doctor took in the picture before him, pride evident in his eyes. The gown enhanced her already lovely figure accentuating each and every feminine curve. The dress was complimented by the modest necklace she wore of blue sapphires fashioned into an intricate floral design. Rose had managed to create a simple but elegant hair style using sapphire encrusted combs and completed the look with matching earrings.

"You look beautiful Rose," he complimented without hesitation.

She gave a tentative smile at his words, waiting for the 'for a human' bit however when he did not add it her mouth broadened into a full Rose Tyler grin, complete with her tongue peeking out between her teeth.

"You ready then?" he asked as he proudly took her hand.

"Ready when you are," she exclaimed, taking note that he still wore his trademark jumper, jeans and jacket. Rose often wondered why hardly anyone ever asked the Doctor about his appearance. In fact she had questioned him once and he mumbled something about 'people seeing what they want to see.' She knew enough by now that some things were better left unanswered unless one wanted to end up with an almighty migraine.

As they exited the TARDIS they found themselves in a rather large storage room that appeared to hold a vast array of art equipment, enamel paints, casting moulds, old fashioned tools and several bags of white powder which Rose thought might be the equivalent of 'plaster of paris.'

"Perfect," exclaimed the Doctor, obviously pleased at where the TARDIS had landed. "The old girl got us right inside the Faberge workshops." He tucked Rose's arm up under his before continuing in his suave Northern voice. "Would you care to accompany me, my dear, on another adventure?"

Rose giggled at his attempt of chivalry. "Of course, Doctor, or should I say of course, husband dear. For better or for worse remember, although let's hope this adventure finishes in the first category rather than the latter. We've had too many of late where running for our lives seems to be the ultimate ending."

The Doctor squeezed her arm, partially by way of apology but also as a gesture of comfort. "Don't worry, I'll look after you," he promised,

Rose smiled up at him, innocence and trust evident in her eyes. "You always do, Doctor. "

Focusing his mind back on the adventure he drew her towards the door of the storage room, opened it and cautiously took stock of the deserted corridor into which it entered. Pulling Rose along with him, he stepped outside the storage room and moved swiftly along the corridor until they found another room that was most definitely a workshop although empty. They moved on again and found another workshop but it too appeared vacant.

"Doctor, where are all the people?"

Just as he was about to answer her, a man in his mid-forties and wearing well cut tweed entered the room. He stood stock still in surprise when he saw them but his initial shock wore off quickly. As he angrily strode towards them he demanded in an aggressive tone -

"Who are you and how the hell did you get in here?"

**End Chapter One - more soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"We came to see Karl Faberge," replied the Doctor. Flipping out his psychic paper he offered it to the man before him. "I am Count Ivan Kuznetsov and this is my wife –"

"I am Karl Faberge," came the man's curt reply. "And that piece of paper, sir, is blank. Who are you? No matter, you both need to leave. The House of Faberge is in quarantine."

The Doctor, momentarily taken aback by the fact that the psychic paper had let him down, failed to hear Faberge's last statement until he again repeated his demand for them to leave.

"Quarantine?" he questioned, then mumbled softly to Rose, "That's not supposed to happen."

At that moment there came a shout from outside the room.

"Help, for God's sake, help!"

Faberge, the Doctor and Rose ran from the room and out into the corridor to find the owner of the extremely agitated voice. A man named Dmitry flung himself at Faberge, clutching wildly at his shoulders.

"Karl, it's your brother, Agathon. He's acting strangely and looks so ill. He looks like Petrov did … just before …"

"Stop the chatter, you fool. Where is he?" At Dmitry's answer Faberge turned and ran from the room, forgetting all about the strange couple he had met until he realised that they were running with him.

"Why are you still here?" he questioned harshly.

"What's happened?" asked the Doctor, totally ignoring Faberge's order to go.

"Please," broke in Rose. "If your brother is ill we might be able to help. My husband is a doctor. You have to believe us."

"Madam, that may be so but even if he is … I fear there is nothing you can do. If my brother has taken ill by the same sickness that claimed Petrov two days ago then it is already too late."

The conversation was halted as they reached another room and found Agathon writhing in pain on the floor, his skin pale and hot. The Doctor and Faberge quickly made their way to his side, the former whipping out his sonic screwdriver and running it over the young man's body.

"Agathon, my brother, I'm here," murmured Karl but the Doctor stopped him.

"No, wait!" shouted the Doctor in warning.

"What? Why?" replied Faberge, anger evident in his voice. "He is my brother."

"Just listen to me. I believe Agathon has been poisoned." Seeing the haunted look on the other man's face, the Doctor quickly continued. "I will try to help him but I need to talk to him about how that might have occurred."

The Doctor turned away from Karl and focused his attention on Agathon, who despite the obvious pain and anguish appeared still capable of some speech.

Running the sonic screwdriver over the man once more he calmly questioned him. "Agathon, have you eaten or drunk anything recently?"

"N … n … no, not s … since br … breakfast. Three h … h … hours ago," he stammered, using the last vestiges of his strength.

"Hmm, that confirms what the sonic says as well." He turned back to Karl. "Unless it's a slow acting poison then I don't believe your brother ingested it through food and drink. I am inclined to think it must be something he touched. What was the last thing he was working on?" he questioned.

"He was putting the final gilt on the commission for the Tsar."

"You mean the Imperial Easter Egg called 'The Hen?'"

"Yes," replied Karl caught between fear for his brother and fear of this strange man before him. "How did you know about the Hen and how do you know my brother was poisoned?"

"No time to explain now but did the other man who died, what was his name … Petrov, yes, that's it. Did he happen to work on the egg, too?"

"Yes, he did. He was checking to make sure everything inside the egg was perfect." He sighed sadly. "Can you help my brother, sir?"

"Call me Doctor, and yes, I can help your brother but you're going to have to trust me. Can you do that?"

Karl sighed again. "I have no choice, Doctor. I do not want my brother to die."

"Then come with me. Help me – no, wait. Rose, run back to the TARDIS and get three sets of those long medical gloves from the med bay. If the poison is transferred by touch we don't want to take the chance of Agathon passing it on to us."

Rose ran as fast as she could even though the tightly fitted dress somewhat encumbered her. After finding what was required, she returned to the Doctor's side and keeping one pair of gloves for herself, handed the other two over to the Doctor and Karl. The Doctor then turned to speak to Dmitry. "Dmitry, ensure that no one touches the Imperial Egg including you. Your life may well depend on it."

Dmitry looked to Karl for approval and was surprised to see him readily agree. If his employer was prepared to take orders from this stranger than so was he.

With the help of Karl and Rose the Doctor was able to carry Agathon back to the storage room. Karl looked confused as he caught his first glimpse of the TARDIS. His look turned fearful as he stepped over the threshold of the sentient time ship, crossing into the unknown. He did not let his fear get the better of him; instead he took a deep breath and turned to face the Doctor.

His questions had to wait though for at that moment his brother gave a long moan. This stranger had said he could help his brother and that was all that mattered for now.

After removing her gloves, Rose moved to his side and placed her hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay. The Doctor will take care of him. We're moving him to another room now with special equipment that will help."

"Thank you, Madam, but what can he do? From what I saw when Petrov died, I think it would have been impossible for any doctor to have helped."

"First, don't call me Madam. It's Rose, okay, and second, the Doctor, as I think you already know, is not like anyone you've ever met before."

While they were talking the Doctor had carried Agathon from the console room into the medical bay. As usual the TARDIS had sensed the Doctor's urgent need of the room and had moved it so it was right next door.

By the time Karl and Rose joined him, the Doctor had placed Agathon on the bed and was scanning him again, both with his sonic screwdriver and a slightly larger instrument that frequently gave off high pitched beeps. The Doctor took a sample of Agathon's blood and set to work trying to identify the poison.

"Rose," he called softly.

She went over to where he stood looking at the information on the med bay computer.

"Why don't you go make us some tea. I'm sure Karl has more than a few questions for me."

"Okay," she agreed and stopped just once more to ask their guest how he would like his tea before she quietly left the room.

The Doctor looked up from the computer to see that Karl had moved to his brother's bedside.

"Agathon, I'm so sorry. I thought this commission from the Tsar would be our greatest achievement but it seems to have become our fatal curse."

"No," broke in the Doctor. "It won't be like that."

Karl turned to face him, half angry, half confused. "How do you know this, Doctor? Who are you? What do you call this contraption we are in? How is it that inside it is all space but from the outside looks like a simple blue box. I tell you now I don't believe in magic or conjuring but I cannot explain this except by those means."

"Easy," said the Doctor quietly. "You're a smart man, Karl. All your life you've thought outside the box, creating beautiful works of art. Use that intelligence and creativity now."

The other man looked around him, at the medical instruments, at the walls of the TARDIS itself and finally back to the Doctor. When he spoke again there was no trace of fear in his tone. "You're not from this world, are you?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No, I'm not. That all right?"

Karl nodded thoughtfully. "So you travel, you and your Rose, in this box?"

"It's called a TARDIS and she's a living being. Yeah, Rose and I travel and live in her but Karl you can't tell anyone about us. About all of this, ever. Do you understand?"

Karl laughed sharply. "I doubt anyone would believe me anyway. It would be a quick one way trip to the lunatic asylum if I did. I'm right here and I still can't believe my eyes."

Their discussion was interrupted by a sharp chime from the TARDIS followed by a beep from the computer. The Doctor collated the blood sample results and beckoned Karl over, just as Rose returned with the tea.

"You may want to sit down because despite everything you already know there is more to come." As Rose handed him his tea Karl sat down in the nearest chair. He listened closely as the Doctor continued. "I've identified the poison in your brother's system but it's not a substance found on earth."

"Not from earth," parroted Karl slowly. "So it's from another world … like you?"

"Yes, but the being who planted this poison is not like me. Frankly I'm surprised to even find one living here on Earth."

Rose interrupted him.

"Who, Doctor, who or what is it that left this poison behind?"

The Doctor glanced at Karl, briefly wondering if he should go on. The man knew too much already but so far nothing he had heard appeared to have phased him. The Doctor decided to keep going, fairly certain that his assumptions about the man's ability to handle the extraordinary were correct.

"Rose, Karl, the poison on the egg has been left by a member of the Plemigamatropod race. They basically look human but they secrete a clear substance that is the poison that's been left on the egg. It's so toxic that anyone who touches it would be dead within thirty minutes."

"But that means Agathon –"

"Agathon will be fine, Karl," declared the Doctor. "We got to him in time. My ship has him in an induced coma for the moment and now that I've identified the poison an antidote will be ready in just a few minutes."

"But Doctor why would this Plemigam …" Rose stopped, looking frustrated.

"Plemigamatropod," repeated the Doctor.

"Right, Plemigamatropod, why would this Plemigamatropod want to leave his poison all over the egg in the first place?"

The Doctor smiled at her, amazed at her cleverness and her ability to always ask the right questions.

"Well done, Rose. A very good question indeed but I think I have an answer. The Plemigamatropod race often hire themselves out as quiet assassins. Their poison is effective, is readily available and almost impossible to trace or detect unless you have the right equipment. Things must not be going so well for them out in the galaxies if they're looking for work on Earth.

"So …," Karl slowly followed the Doctor's train of thought. "You think some of them have come here?"

"Good man," exclaimed the Doctor, looking pleased as punch at the cleverness of the two humans before him. "That's exactly what I was thinking **or** that they got someone to do their work for them. I think they might be supplying the poison to anyone willing to pay for it. Even now there is moderate unrest amongst some factions of the Russian political parties. Tsar Alexander and his Tsaritsa would be a perfect assassination target for someone especially if they became aware of the Plemigamatropod's special talents." He turned to Karl once more. "Think Karl, did anyone else have access to the Imperial Egg in recent days?"

The jeweller looked thoughtful for a moment before answering. "The design was top secret, even from the Tsar. I had only a handful of trusted employees working on the egg's creation - my brother, Petrov, Dmitry and me. Oh, yes, there was one other, Nikolay. He'd been with me for ten years but last week I had to release him because he was continuously coming to work drunk." Karl paused for a moment; a frown crossed his face as he attempted to make sense of everything. Suddenly he covered his eyes and groaned. "Doctor, I caught Nikolay handling the inside surprises of the Hen egg the day after I fired him. Somehow he had convinced the other staff to let him in. He left cursing that I would be punished."

"You were wearing gloves when you put the egg back together?" asked the Doctor.

Karl's face paled. "Yes… oh, by all that is holy, yes I did have gloves on at that particular moment. I would not have suspected him before but Doctor, Nikolay was found dead the next day and no one could explain how he died. I guess we do now," he finished sadly.

All three were startled by the sudden sound of a computer beeping. The Doctor moved towards the desk and proceeded to type in the details of the antidote for the TARDIS to create. After hitting the send button he turned back to the other two.

"The antidote formula has been created. My clever ship will have it made in no time and we can administer it to your brother."

"Thank you," said Karl gratefully. "I'm sure Agathon will want to thank you too when he is able to do so. Unfortunately we have another problem now. We were to present the egg to Tsar Alexander tomorrow. It was to be a gift for his wife, the Tsaritsa Maria, but now that is impossible."

"Ah, ye of little faith," admonished the Doctor. "I will fix your brother, Karl, rest assured I can clean up the poison that coats the Imperial Egg. You will stand before the Tsar and Tsaritsa tomorrow as planned. Now put on some clean gloves, go back and bring the egg here to the TARDIS. Rose will show you somewhere you can rest and I will ensure that every last drop of poison on every inch of this treasure is neutralised."

Karl shook his head. "I'll go and retrieve the egg, Doctor and you can do what you must with it to make it clean but I'm not letting it out of my sight again."

The tone in his voice was resolute and the Doctor knew there would be no use arguing with him. "Okay, go get the egg."

**End of Chapter Two**

**Authors Notes:**

The Doctor's Name Ivan Kuznetsov translates to John Smith (well almost). Ivan is John and Kuznetsov means 'son of Smith'. My beta did suggest Smirnov which is closer to Smith but it sounded too much like Smirnoff Vodka for my liking lol.

Also for historic reference; Faberge did have a brother named Agathon who was considerably younger than him but was working at the House of Faberge at the time of the Hens Egg creation.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Authors Note: This is the final chapter in my fic for the storm and wolf challenge over at Live Journal. Thanks again to naughtybunny23 for your beta services. I absolutely loved writing this last chapter so please let me know what you think.**_

Just after Karl left, the med bay computer beeped once again signaling the readiness of the antidote. By the time Karl had returned with his precious cargo, the Doctor had administered the dose to Agathon who remained in stasis in order to speed his recovery. The Doctor had also decided that he didn't need another person on board demanding answers to questions he simply could not give.

The Doctor next prepared a special gel that had similar properties to the antidote in which to clean each piece of the Imperial Easter Egg. It was all just about ready when Karl carefully placed the egg on the table. He opened it, and with reverent, gentle hands proceeded to show the Doctor and Rose what was inside.

They could not help but marvel at the beauty and exquisite artistry of the piece. The exterior of the egg was of white enamel simulating an actual shell. When opened it revealed a beautifully proportioned golden ball that represented the glowing yellow yolk. Karl showed how this too could be opened and inside nestled within a bed of soft suede lay a small hen exquisitely made from yellow, white and red gold. She had two precious rubies for eyes and her body could be opened by means of a concealed hinge near the base of her tail. Inside the little hen another surprise awaited. There was an audible gasp from Rose when a miniature diamond replica of the Imperial Crown was revealed. Suspended from the crown hung a small ruby pendant.

As each beautiful piece was unveiled even the Doctor was forced to admit that although he had seen many astounding sights in his travels, this intricate creation stood out in its uniqueness and craftsmanship. He treated with great reverence each piece of the Imperial Egg that Karl handed to him. He cleaned each item with the gel substance, his touch almost a caress, giving patient unfailing attention to every enameled surface and golden feather alike. Each piece was than treated to a gentle rinsing before the TARDIS used a simple process to tenderly leave the portions of the egg dry and free of the Plemigamatropod's poison.

The Doctor turned to Karl. "Give it a few minutes and each piece will be as if nothing had ever happened to it. I've seen many things in my time, Karl, but this-" gesturing to the parts of 'the Hen' laid out before them, "-is workmanship that is only found in one person amongst millions. Very impressive."

"That," broke in Rose cheekily, "is the most sincere compliment you'll ever get, Karl, because the Doctor very rarely gives them."

"Oi, that's not true," he protested in mock indignation but his smile showed that he was not really offended. He never could be at her. He faced Karl once more. "Your brother will be fine, too. All traces of the poison both within and outside of his body, including what was on his clothes, has gone. I'll wake him shortly but he'll still be quite groggy which is probably just as well. Means not having to give him an explanation about what has transpired over the last few hours. I'll help you move him back to somewhere he can rest in your workshops and leave it to you to come up with a story about what happened."

"You wouldn't have to change the story much anyway," declared Rose. "As the Doctor said earlier assassination attempts on the Tsar would not be a new thing and you don't need to tell him what sort of poison it was. Just tell him he's lucky that his brother had a good Doctor on hand who ensured he'd be up and about for the big day."

"Tomorrow, yes," exclaimed Karl. "You must come, please, as my personal guests … although," he faulted, "I still do not know who you really are and let's not start up with the fake names again. Who are you really?"

The Doctor smiled. "We're just friends, Karl. Friends who happened to be in the right place at the right time."

Karl returned his smile. "Well, I confess I had hoped for a less cryptic answer than that but it would be ungrateful for me to complain considering all you have done for my brother and me. The offer to come as my guests to the Royal Imperial Court tomorrow still stands. If I may be so bold, I think you, Rose, would definitely make an impression amongst the young bloods that reside at the palace."

Rose warmly thanked Karl for his compliment before persuading him to take a small tour of some of the TARDIS's rooms. The tour ended in one room where the two sat and watched the constellations of the night sky form and change depending on choice of season and planet. Karl felt almost bereft when it was time to go but understood that there were more pressing matters for him to attend to. He followed Rose back to the console room where he immediately began to reassemble his prized creation with gentle hands. After completing his task he returned his attention to the Doctor and Rose.

"Well, Doctor, I think it's time I took my brother home. I must say that although I did not foresee or need this adventure it has been exciting and something I will always remember." Seeing the look of consternation on the Doctor's face he hurriedly continued. "Do not worry, my friend. I promised before that I will not reveal what happened today. I owe you everything so it's a promise I intend to keep."

"Thank you, Karl," replied the Doctor gratefully before turning away from him. He crossed over to Agathon's bedside and proceeded to awaken him from the sleep stasis. Karl bade Rose farewell before he and the Doctor carried Agathon from the TARDIS to a bed in one of the Faberge workshops.

"You should be able to lift the quarantine now, Karl but burn those gloves you wore the other day so no one else touches them by accident." He was surprised to see the jeweller wince at his request. "Is there a problem with that?" he queried.

The other man had the decency to look red-faced. "No, no, not exactly Doctor. It's just that my wife gave me those gloves only last week so I'm just thinking about what story I'm going to tell her for losing them." Suddenly he started laughing and the Doctor could not help but join him.

Karl's laughter subsided first and he regarded the Doctor once more with curious eyes.

"Ask me the question that's in your head, Karl."

"You seem to know things, Doctor, like the fact that my brother and I would definitely be at court tomorrow. You knew about the egg for the Tsar. I know it sounds silly but when you said you were from another world I think you also meant the future, didn't you?"

There was a bittersweet tone to the Doctor's voice as he answered the other man's anything but simple questions. "I can't tell you that. I'm sorry but I will say this to you. You'd better get that unique mind of yours working on a new design for the next royal commission. I have a feeling you're going to be quite busy."

A long moaning yawn came from the bed that held Agathon.

"I think that's my cue to leave," said the Doctor. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Karl."

"Likewise Doctor, goodbye," he replied as they shook hands warmly. Without a further word the Doctor exited the room, made a hasty return back to the TARDIS and Rose.

Karl moved to his brother's side and took his hand. "Welcome back, Agathon. Trust you to sleep through all the excitement."

Back in the TARDIS Rose waited for the Doctor's return. She laughed softly to herself as it hit home that once again their simple little trip had escalated into another big adventure. Well at least they had given the running a miss today. As the Doctor entered the ship she saw his eyes light up at seeing her waiting for him. Jumping off the seat she ran over and hugged him tightly, an embrace that he joyfully returned.

After he released her the Doctor walked over to the console and piloted the TARDIS into the Vortex. He stood back from the console, bearing a huge grin, relishing in the sweet success of a quest fulfilled.

"So," he began. "That didn't quite turn out like we thought."

A giggle lifted from Rose's throat before she spoke. "Aha, and how was today any different from our other unexpected adventures?"

"Well, we didn't have to do much running."

"No," said Rose, still laughing. "No, that was a nice change but just as well since the psychic paper was a no go."

The Doctor laughed along with her. "Yeah, well every now and then you meet people smarter than the rest of you apes." He pulled her into another quick hug, and then released her before continuing. "Smart people include you too by the way. You did brilliantly today."

Rose blushed at his compliment. She loved it when she proved she could hold her own alongside him. It had been a thrilling adventure today, meeting Karl Faberge and getting to see first hand his exquisite creation but it was all the more special because she got to share the fun and high drama with her best friend. However there was one point about today that bothered her and she spoke to the Doctor of her concern.

"Do you think Karl will ever tell anyone about what really happened? I know he said he wouldn't but do you think that's possible? It's a huge secret to keep."

"It would be hard but I believe him. I did think about going in and erasing his memories but something in my head told me I didn't need to. That there was a reason for me not to take his memories away … oh," he suddenly gasped and his hands flew to his head.

"Doctor, tell me what's wrong," pleaded Rose as she moved closer to him.

"Oh," he repeated. "It's okay, Rose, really I'm fine. You remember me telling you back in Cardiff that time is not a straight line?"

"Yes."

"Well it appears that I've met Karl Faberge before. I just made myself forget."

"Forget, what for? Why would you do that and how come you can suddenly remember now?" questioned Rose, obviously flustered.

The Doctor sighed. "It's complicated, Rose, but I can make myself forget things that have happened. It's not something I do all the time but occasionally circumstances crop up where it's imperative I not remember. This was one of them."

"Doctor, I'm confused."

"I know Rose and I'm sorry. I'll try to explain as best I can. The memory is locked away inside my brain until it's safe and the right time for me to remember again. You see I met Karl for the first time when he was an old man. It was October in the year 1918. I won't bore you with the reasons I was there but it was connected with the outbreak of the Revolution. When I met him he was not the man we met today. Sadly he looked drained of life. The Bolsheviks had nationlised the House of Faberge and it was no more. Karl saw the works of his lifetime disappear before his very eyes and it was killing him."

"Oh no," whispered Rose. "The poor man."

"Yeah, he took it very hard but times were coming when he would be in even more danger. By now he was almost 82 years old, a threat to no one you would think but I knew if he stayed in St Petersburg his life would be in danger. Two of his sons had already been imprisoned. I managed to convince him to take the last diplomatic train to Riga and then he moved on to Germany and after finding that he could never go back to Russia, finally arrived in Switzerland."

At this point of the story the Doctor paused, a glimmer of wetness appeared in his eyes but he blinked ferociously until Rose thought she had imagined it.

"Go on, please, Doctor," she said encouragingly.

"Yes, ah, okay. That's all really. Karl never got over the loss of his company nor the grief at being exiled from Russia. He died in Lausanne in 1920. I sometimes wonder if he would have been better off staying in Russia," he finished regretfully.

Rose laid her hand on his arm in a gesture of comfort. "You did what you thought best, Doctor. You tried to save his life and that's a noble thing to do, something that I'm sure he always remembered. Did he, I mean, when you met him in St Petersburg in 1918 … did he recall who you were?"

"Yeah, he did Rose. He said he remembered it all as clearly as if it had happened just yesterday. Got somewhat miffed with me because I hadn't changed so therefore looked better than he did."

"Did he mention me at all?" she asked hopefully but the Doctor shook his head.

"No I'm sorry, not by name he didn't. He did however make mention that I had with me a blonde woman who was pretending to be my wife. Of course that threw me and was probably part of the reason I made myself forget. I hadn't met you yet and it wasn't a good thing for me to know that and that I would be meeting a younger version of Karl in the not too distant future."

He raised his hand to his temple again as more of the locked memory resurfaced.

"I was helping Karl pack his case for his journey to Riga and while I was there he gave me two boxes. One of them was marked 'The Constellation' and the other was unmarked but he was clear that I take both. 'The Constellation' was one of the last two Imperial Eggs that his house had created in 1917 but he had not gotten a chance to complete it. I took it with me to keep it safe and the egg disappeared off the radar, presumed broken and missing."

"Oh, but they did find it," broke in Rose excitedly. "I remember now as part of that TV show that they actually found the egg in 2001. It was dark blue glass and had carvings of the constellations on it. It was found in a box alongside some other things in the basement of –"

"Of the Fersman Mineralogical Museum," finished the Doctor gleefully. "And the constellation carvings were meant to be the stars that were out the day that Tsar Nicholas Romanov's son, Alexei, was born."

"Yes, that's right… but … oh my! You … you put it there," she breathed, the look on her face incredulous.

"Yep," he grinned, feeling rather smug. "That was me."

Rose leaned over and punched him in the arm. "You think you're so good, don't you?"

"Yep."

The two laughed together but very soon she was back to asking him more questions.

"You mentioned a second box, Doctor. Did you ever look at it?"

"No. I didn't Rose. Karl told me not to open it until the right time. I never understood back then what he meant by that and then when I made myself forget everything that small detail was also lost. But" he stated enthusiastically, "I'm guessing that since my memory of that encounter has come back then it's safe enough to look at it now."

Upon finishing his last sentence he bounded down the hallway to his bedroom. When he returned Rose could see he held a medium sized box. With shaking hands he slowly opened it and for a moment three hearts skipped a beat and breathing was forgotten.

"Oh my," gasped Rose as she finally remembered to take a breath. "Doctor, it's like the Constellation Egg."

"Indeed, Rose, but this one isn't set into the rock crystal like the other one was and look, the carvings of the constellations are different." He looked up at Rose just in time to see a puzzled look on her face. "What is it?" he asked softly.

"Doctor, can I have the egg for a minute? I just want to check on something."

He handed the precious gift over to her and watched as she quickly padded from the console room. Eight minutes and forty seven seconds later she returned, tears in her eyes.

"Rose, what's wrong?" he asked his voice deep with concern.

She ran her fingers gently over the carved pattern of the stars. "Doctor, these stars are the ones Karl saw today, here on the TARDIS, in the constellation room. How? I mean we were not even in there very long. How could he memorize them so well in such a short time?"

"I don't know, Rose but somehow he did. Every single star is correctly positioned and I should know because the constellations in that room today were from Gallifrey." He remained lost in thought for a few minutes longer but excitement over the gift was quickly encouraging him to open the outer casing of the precious gift, revealing the new surprise inside.

Karl did not disappoint them. Standing tall within the walls of the egg sat a perfect replica of the TARDIS. The semi precious stone had been cut whole and carved with such precision one could find no fault anywhere. There was a delighted squeal from Rose when further inspection revealed a tiny intricate key that slotted into an equally tiny lock on the door of the TARDIS. When turned the mechanism allowed for the TARDIS doors to swing open, finally revealing the egg's last surprise.

If three hearts had skipped a beat earlier they certainly jumped two or three now. It was quite obvious that the egg's creator had spent many loving hours recreating the main room's interior décor, right down to the bicycle pump on the console. Standing next to the jump seat, holding hands, were miniature versions of them. The Doctor wearing his usual black leather armour and Rose in her beautiful blue gown.

Neither of them could speak but could only gaze at the wonder of this most amazing gift. Rose eventually took the Doctor's hand but still they did not utter a word. They could only stand there, hands joined mirroring the actions of their miniature selves.

Finally the Doctor, using his free hand, removed a decorated piece of paper from the box. On the paper in an elegant hand were four words.

"From Faberge, with Love."


End file.
